Eric Mangini regrets turning in the Patriots over Spygate

Posted by Michael David Smith on May 1, 2012, 4:44 PM EDT

AP

Eric Mangini, who as a Patriots assistant knew about the practice of taping opposing teams’ signals, and who informed the league office of the practice when he was the Jets’ head coach, said today that he regrets the way Spygate has continued to overshadow the Patriots and coach Bill Belichick.

“If there is a decision I could take back it’s easily that decision,” Mangini said. “Never in a million years would I have wanted it to go this way. It’s disappointing whenever it comes up.”

Mangini, who was an assistant on the Patriots’ three Super Bowl-winning teams, says he has never believed any of the Patriots’ titles were tainted, and he’s surprised that anyone would suggest they are.

“It’s regret, it’s disappointment, it’s all of those things,” Mangini said of the way he views Spygate now. “Because I know what it took to win those Super Bowls and I have so much respect for the people that were involved there. I’m disappointed that this is what it’s translated into.”

One reason for Mangini’s disappointment may be that he’s now viewed in coaching circles as an assistant whom a head coach would have trouble trusting. If Mangini wants to get back on an NFL staff, he’d need that head coach to believe he’d be more loyal than he was to Belichick. But Mangini said today that he wasn’t trying to hurt Belichick. All he really wanted was to beat the Patriots that day and keep them from getting any kind of an advantage.

“Never in a million years did I expect it to play out like this,” Mangini said. “This is one of those situations where I didn’t want them to do the things they were doing. I didn’t think it was any kind of significant advantage, but I wasn’t going to give them the convenience of doing it in our stadium, and I wanted to shut it down. But there was no intent to get the league involved. There was no intent to have the landslide that it has become.”

Mangini was seated alongside former Patriot Tedy Bruschi, who criticized Harbaugh today after Harbaugh made his comments about the Patriots’ “stained” titles. Bruschi said he traded voicemails with Harbaugh and has no hard feelings, and Mangini said he feels badly for his own role in forcing Bruschi into conversations like this one.

“To have guys like Tedy have to defend the championships that we earned in New England, and to have anything taken away from the Kraft family, from coach Belichick, and the players and coaches that have meant so much to me, never in a million years did I think it was going to translate into what it was going to translate into,” Mangini said. “And it doesn’t tarnish what we achieved there. It doesn’t tarnish what they achieved after the fact. I think when you look at the history of success that they had after that incident, it’s pretty obvious that it didn’t play any type of significant role in the victories we had or the success that we had.”

Some members of that 2007 Patriots team may have some ill will toward Mangini, but Bruschi doesn’t. And Mangini said he feels badly that he put Bruschi in a bad position by turning in the Patriots almost five years ago.

“That’s what’s so disappointing to me,” Mangini said. “The fact that Tedy has to sit here and talk about that because of a decision that I made, it’s disappointing.”

Vince Lombardi would be ashamed to know that a trophy in his name was awarded to an organization that cheated on the opponent prior to a championship name.

Why not simplify the arguement. When deserving teams win the SuperBowl they will be awarded the Lombari Trophy. And if teams are determined to have cheated, down the road lets say, they will have The Lombardi converted to The Belichick Trophy.

The other part of the Mangini legacy was that he tried, surreptitiously, to recruit coaches off Belichick’s staff when he knew he was going to the Jets, and BB also believed that Mangini was not focused on his job in NE because he so fixated on the Jets job. There are a bunch of reasons for Mangini’s credibility gap around the league (stabbing his mentor in the back, stealing coaches without asking permission, not handling his responsibilities as DC because of his lust for the Jets job, etc.), not just Spygate. All these reasons combined are why he is looked at around the league as someone who can’t be trusted.

“And it doesn’t tarnish what we achieved there. It doesn’t tarnish what they achieved after the fact. I think when you look at the history of success that they had after that incident, it’s pretty obvious that it didn’t play any type of significant role in the victories we had or the success that we had.”

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History of success? You mean the 0 Super Bowl wins since this all came out?!?

This happens everytime the patrtiots cheating gets brought back up. Patriots fans whine about them being cheaters, and the media tries to throw a pity party.

Who cares any more? the patriots cheated their way to 3 superbowls, we all know that, they’re still a good team, and their fans are a bunch of babies throwing hissy fits every time someone mentions the fact that they’re cheaters.

he is only sorry because he has no job. he has been blackballed. sad but its true.
also those championships are stained. they cheated. the worst part is goodell slapped them on the hands (if that) and burned the evidence

I love it; these guys never learn. Belichick, Brady, and Vince are going to use this as motivation. Harbaugh said what he said and now both he and Mangini are trying to backtrack. Here we come, 16 – 0, baby; this time we need to make it 19 – 0 instead of 18 – 1.

I forgive you Eric and I hope you learned a good lesson from all this nonsense.
We all know how the sore loser are going to go on about this “spygate” thing – like Harbaugh has done. We Patriot fans are proud of their team for being the best in the league and know we should not look down on teams who always seem to have something to complain about.
I have three words for angry losers like Harbaugh – do your job!

“No, you didn’t have to stoop so low
Have your friends collect your records
And then change your number
Guess that I don’t need that though
Now you’re just somebody that I used to know
.
.
.
And I wouldn’t catch you hung up on somebody that you used to know-oh-oh”

Its funny how many coaches had a lot of success with patriots and nothing before or after that…

Nitwits, please get something straight: “Spygate” involved taping an opponents’ hand signals from “unauthorized areas” during a game. That the Patriots taped the Rams prior to the SB is an urban legend, a rumor reported by the Boston Herald despite the fact that it could not be confirmed and which was subsequently retracted. In terms of evidence, the practice taping is right there with Bigfoot, Yeti, and the Loch Ness monster. So, when writing your anti-Patriot diatribes, please try to get this straight. I’ll make it simple: Sideline taping? Yes. Practice taping? No.

Im glad he is our coach… There are a lot of bad mediocre coaches in the nfl… His greatest season was the 2008 year when he lost Brady for the entire year and still the team went 11-5. He takes WRs and converts them to CBs… A true great and extremely innovative coach..

The EXTREMELY vocal retaliation from Pats fans, former Pats players, and every bug to come out of their woodwork like Mangini leave any level headed person to the same conclusion: true cheaters hate being called cheaters. If there really was no wrong doing, don’t you think everyone involved with the Patriots from Kraft down to the last fan would be laughing off these statements and not vociferously defending their actions?

pats cheat, saints hurt people, roethlisberger raped a chick or two, ray lewis murdered a guy, that bears WR was trying to by 10 kilos of cocaine a week, brett favre mails a picture of his ding dong… it all just starts to blur

Sorry sports fans, but you can’t endorse the authority of the NFL to enforce rules regarding where a game can be taped from then discount their authority to determine if any violations of those rules negate or taint a championship.

Anyone with half a brain knows that “Spygate” or “Cameragate,” or whatever you want to call it, was much ado about absolutely nothing. Even the over-reactive Goodell wouldn’t label it “cheating,” only the Patriots haters.

It doesn’t matter, all of us alive during this era of football will remember it till we die, whether we think it was a huge advantage or not is entirely debatable but we will remember it. I think the same will go for the bountified Saints. Those who lost to these teams in important games during the cheating period will remember it much more.

“Mangini, who was an assistant on the Patriots’ three Super Bowl-winning teams, says he has never believed any of the Patriots’ titles were tainted, and he’s surprised that anyone would suggest they are.”

What did this guy expect to happen? People would acknowledge it and just move on? Especially when this level of cheating was essentially brushed under the rug? More is being done about bountygate than the Pats cheating scandal ever was – and ultimately that’s why this won’t go away.

And how could anyone seriously claim those SB victories AREN’T tainted? They were taping practices and team signals. If that isn’t an unfair advantage I don’t know what is?

I think Belichek is a great coach. Brady is an exceptional QB. But it doesn’t change the fact that they cheated, and had an unfair advantage in each of those SuperBowls.

Sounds like mangini is trying to get back into the NFL. If there wasn’t any videotaping taking place at the time there would be nobody questioning the 3 superbowl wins. Why put yourself in that position? Unlike the Saints* I still have great respect for the Patriots. I love the hate them. Only because they are a great team.

Maybe he regrets it because it hurt his coaching career but I bet every team out there is happy he did it. The Patriots would still be doing it if mangini hadn’t said something and who knows what type of advantages it would have given them. Remember, if it wasn’t helping them they wouldn’t have been doing it.

pattersonconsulting says:
May 1, 2012 4:53 PM
I’m not buying that it didn’t give the patriots an advantage. He wouldn’t have worried about them doing it to him if it didn’t give them an advantage.
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He wasn’t worried, he was ticked at how his parting was handled and wanted revenge is my guess. NYJ were filming the Pats in the 06 playoff game at least and caught also. Pats just told them to stop. EM claimed they had permission, Pats said no.

Either way, it’s funny how other teams who knew like GB just asked the Pats to stop and never turned them in. Herm Edwards knew what they were doing too, he was shown in footage of the Pats tapes waving at the cameras. Sure supports the Mangini-revenge thing, though I doubt we will ever know EXACTLY why he did it. It also supports that other teams knew exactly what it was all about (scouting efficiency-there’s your “advantage”). McCarthy and Edwards both worked for Schottenheimer at some point and according to Jimmy Johnson, one of Schotty’s former scouts is who told Jimmy how to tape signals.

They were caught violating a rule. I have no problem with the fact there were consequences for that. BB played with fire by continuing to tape from that location after that memo came out and he got burned. It is what it is.

I DO have problems with ignorant comments about all this, though most of them make me laugh because they are so silly.

Sorry but stealing signals is cheating and cheating by definition tarnishes any accomplishments made while doing it. It’s very, very simple.
There’s no doubt at all that those wins are heavily tainted.

Who cares what mangini thinks. The facts are the facts. The pats cheated even after being warned. There was an advantage to cheating that is why it was done and that is why the pats were punished. They deserve to have spygate held over their head because it’s called CHEATING!

As far a “if your not cheating your not trying” goes think of this if you have to cheat, just means your not good enough to win. Winning when you know it’s a lie isn’t winning. If you thumbs down this comment, just remember, you know that you have no honor.

Yea.. well… that’s all nice and good but maybe you should have thought of that BEFORE you went RAT. Not only did you do the right thing by telling the league office what they were doing… now you regret doing the right thing. You are as phoney as it gets Eric.
Your the guy who walks around at a party looking over everyone’s shoulder for a better hand to shake. Your not a coach from the Belichick tree, your a turd that was pooped out with flies all around it.

All of you dumb ass losers who continue to complain about spygate are jealous because your team has never accomplished or never will accomplish what the Patriots have. Your petty little life’s are so pathetic it’s ridiculous!

Gotta love all the hippocrates posting on PFT. “There’s nothing wrong with telling the truth.” (so long as they aren’t snitching about YOUR team – right? Then they’re rats & cowards) Every NFL team has skeletons in their closets and when your team’s transgressions are brought to light (and someday they will be) I hope the blogosphere and morons with a computer are just as “fair and unbiased” as they have been with the Pats & Saints.

Unless you have a losing record or haven’t been to a SB in over 10 years. Then no one cares about you.

You know, save your apologies Mangini because it is too late. You have made it tough on the fans of the team as well. I grew very tired of hearing the backlash on Espn who blew it way out of proportion, and from real life peopele who criticized my team.. You can take your apology and turn it sideways and..well you get the point..

The Superbowls aren’t tainted and there is no asterisk officially and they never will be. It will just go down in history as 3 superbowl wins and all who think otherwise can go on being upset and making coments, but it will never change.

People should try to keep in mind that most, if not all teams try to perform competitive advantages at some point. You really think NE is the firstlike or only team to do this? It that NO is the only team to have a “bounty”?

turdfurgerson68 says:
May 1, 2012 4:50 PM
Time to close this non-issue…RIP style.

Where were all the haters when the Patriots were a bumbling 1-15 or 2-14 team?
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The Internet wasn’t around when the Patriots were a bad team. The haters had no place to vent back then lol.

It’s funny that without those little advantages the patriots can’t make it over the top. All the cheating made that little bit of difference to put them over the top. and without it they just can’t overcome.

duncanthecat says:
May 1, 2012 4:50 PM
Vince Lombardi would be ashamed to know that a trophy in his name was awarded to an organization that cheated on the opponent prior to a championship name.

Why not simplify the arguement. When deserving teams win the SuperBowl they will be awarded the Lombari Trophy. And if teams are determined to have cheated, down the road lets say, they will have The Lombardi converted to The Belichick Trophy.

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It shouldn’t have to be said, but I can guarantee your team does some questionable things. Things that others might call cheating. They all do.

Mangini originally did it just to needle Belichick and the Patriots, he didn’t think it would become the crap storm it was today (nor did he realize what halfwits most NFL fans are).

So the Patriots going 16-0, 14-2, 13-3, and going to two Super Bowls helps your argument that they can’t win without cheating? How do they even get there without those magic signals?

Are you saying they only cheated in SB’s? In that case, explain the Carolina SB. You know, the one where the Patriots had played the Panthers for the first time under a new coach (which means new playcalls). The last time the Pats/Panthers met was in 2001 when the Panthers were 1-15.

Unless you think John Fox runs the exact same plays and uses the exact same signals that George Seifert used (wouldn’t surprise me with the posters on PFT), spygate had no impact on SB39.

And remember, you can’t have it both ways. Either spygate only helped them in SB’s, or it helped them in every game along the way. Either way, they’ve proven that they can win without it.

They didn’t win the last two SB’s because of an amazing catch and a drop. They may not have won the Carolina SB had the kicker not booted it out of bounds. They would have lost the Rams SB had the defensive player stripped Brady on the first play of the final drive (watch how close his hand got to the ball).

These are the little plays that determined the SB’s, not filming a coach jumping up and down on the sidelines.

turdfurgerson68 says:May 1, 2012 4:50 PMTime to close this non-issue…RIP style.Where were all the haters when the Patriots were a bumbling 1-15 or 2-14 team?every loser who comments wishes their team had the ownership and coaching that New England does…don’t hate.
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Why would he regret turning in cheating teams ? I’ll love the guy forever for giving me peace of mind as to why the Patriots beat the Rams in SB 36. I knew all along that something was fishy about that win over the Rams.

The Patriots, by win percentage, have been the most dominant team since spygate. Obviously they are not the best team since spygate (because the Giants have won 2 SBs, the Steelers 1, the Packers 1, the Saints 1) but you can easily argue that they are top 5. Being top 5 is pretty amazing all things considered. They’re a few playoff games (or even quarters in some cases) away from being a lock at #1.

Obviously, Mangini regrets being viewed as a rat in league circles and struggling to get a job because of it, but it is possible that Mangini also regrets it for other reasons as well. It’s not like he can only have 1 reason for something.

The NFLs Jose Conseco …He had no regrets about leveraging the success of his spying into HC positions, Soprano appearance & now ESPN.
As Conseco, he may be blackballed because of the choice to turn in his cronies.
Now he cries uncle about the decision that has rewarded him millions & fame he likely would never have received.
Move on..as Harbaugh expressed & felt pressured to apologize for..the stain will remain w an asterisk every time Pats are mentioned!

As a Pats fan, the best thing to hear from pats haters is that we haven’t won the last 2 super bowls we made it to. Hahahaha. We still made it to 2 super bowls!! Most of your teams haven’t even come close to the chance of losing 2 bowls in a 4 year span, let alone playing in 5 out of 10!! It is hilarious to hear that argument. It’s like you expect us to make the super bowl but we can’t win because we can’t cheat to get over that last hurdle?? I think it’s the giants d line and eli manning’s clutch play,not the lack of cheating!

The Patriots have a better regular season record post-Spygate. The Patriots have been to two Super Bowl’s post-Spygate, and lost each in the final minute; games that could very easily have won had a play or two gone differently. They had an undefeated regular season. They went 11-5 with their HOF QB out for the year. This is more accomplishment in the last five years than all but a very small handful of teams over that time period. In fact, it’s more success than some franchises have enjoyed throughout their entire history. I’ve come to realize that it’s pointless to argue the facts of Spygate because most people are just jealous of the Patriots success and are simply incapable of rational discussion. So all you Jets, Dolphins, Bills, Ravens, Browns, Bengals, Titans, Texans, Jaguars, Broncos, Chargers, Raiders, Chiefs, Cowboys, Redskins, Eagles, Panthers, Falcons, Bucs, Bears, Vikings, Lions, Rams, 49’ers, Cardinals, and Seahawks fans, you just keep on with your stupid Spygate crap and us Patriots fans will just keep on watching New England win football games.

If he is going to start apologizing there is a long list. is there an apology coming to Colt McCoy for refusing to let any member of the Browns coaching staff talk to him and making sure that McCoy always received his weekly gameplan a day after the other QBs. What about an apology to those drafted Brown free agents he made take a 20 hour bus trip to work his coaching camp for free. is he sorry he named his kid after Brett Favre. How about painting over the Browns Mural. What about when Mangini cheated against the colts in 2007 using illegal substitutions forcing the competition committee to schedule an emergency meeting 2 days later to put in a “Mangini Rule.” What about all the Jets and Browns player he has treated with disrespect? Is he sorry?

No of course he is not sorry that he has treated people badly he is just sorry he cannot get a job because he has treated people so poorly.

You know what I wish? I wish the League office would just explain to the people what the fine was for. It was for having the cameras on the sidelines not that they were doing anything other teams don’t do from upper boxes etc. They were warned and didn’t move them. They are guilty of stupidity and arrogance not for getting info that any of the other 31 teams couldn’t get and in fact do get from different locations. Email league office if you don’t believe it. Ask someone to check.

pats4everyall says:
May 1, 2012 5:33 PM
All of you dumb ass losers who continue to complain about spygate are jealous because your team has never accomplished or never will accomplish what the Patriots have. Your petty little life’s are so pathetic it’s ridiculous!

pats4everyall says:
May 1, 2012 5:33 PM
All of you dumb ass losers who continue to complain about spygate are jealous because your team has never accomplished or never will accomplish what the Patriots have. Your petty little life’s are so pathetic it’s ridiculous!

Cheaters, Cheaters, Cheaters. Ha Ha Ha……And I love to remind all the Chowders like roid boy teddy that their Super Bowls are all tainted *****************************************************************************************************************************************************************************TAINTED.

Uhh, what? Everything that Belichick gets, he deserves. The guy is a complete and utter, classless prick. And as for Bruschi “having to defend” the validity of the Super Bowls, too bad. Maybe if you and your scumbag coach wouldn’t have cheated, you wouldn’t have to defend anything. I have no sympathy.

tigerlilac says:
May 1, 2012 5:01 PM
I love it; these guys never learn. Belichick, Brady, and Vince are going to use this as motivation. Harbaugh said what he said and now both he and Mangini are trying to backtrack. Here we come, 16 – 0, baby; this time we need to make it 19 – 0 instead of 18 – 1.

Keep hating . . . it’s like manna from heaven to Belichick.

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Anyone that can’t motivate themselves to win without having to resort to “bulletin board material” isn’t much of a man.

Patsforeveryall since you want to throw it down like that, this is for you. Only because your statement is idiotic. Your achieved greatness because they filmed opposing teams to get an upperhand. Mangini is a fool, who took part in it and when it suited him to out the Patriots he did. He in my opinion earns no respect from me. Now, as I’ve had said on other threads that I have great respect for the Patriots. You however get no repect from me. Bafoon.

So, after reading many of the responses here I realize I live in a country full of lots of cheats and liars. Their thinking is that if you can get away with it, DO IT!

Mangini did the right thing. The tattler in Bountygate did the right thing.

Foolish head coaches will attempt to blackball these people but ultimately, they will fail. Honesty and integrity is remembered and revered to a few still running things in the NFL.
Say whatever about Goodell but if he doesn’t put the criminals in check, a nice politician will.
Yes, I said criminals. The behavior exhibited by these cheaters is also criminal on several statutory levels.
This ain’t war, coaches. It’s a game. Oh, that’s right. It’s about money…

If anyone posting here believes that the Patriots and the Saints are the only teams that have done wrong on the field or anywhere else regarding what we know as the NFL … well, you’re naive. They just happen to be the ones that got “caught.”

Funniest part of the whole spygate crap is all the people actually involved in the NFL say its not as big as fans make it out to be… hell they were just saying it on NFL Network, yet morons on this board. still try to say tainted titles……….. whats even funnier is 99.9% don’t even know what the Pats were caught doing. Or anything about the rule such as it was enforced for the 2007 season which is after the Pats won the SBs

The bottom line- Patriots suck, they cheat, the refs cheat for them- they only won ONE superbowl fairly. Thank the Lord that he helped right the wrongs by making them lose to Giants in 07 Superbowl. HAHA

Sorry they are tainted….3 field goals away from being the Bills….Bilicheat and his henchmen win while cheating and don’t have the heart to win when they are on an equal field…..keep whining and pretend it didn’t happen…..cry just like your quarterback does when he’s not picked first.

The evidence was so incriminating and damaging that the Commissioner destroyed the tapes. If Mangini regrets doing the right thing and allowing the League to discipline appropriately, what does that say about him? Probably an honest off-the-cuff answer, but the facts are that the Patriots gained a competitive advantage by the alleged practice. In a game of inches that is often decided by one play there can be no denying that the league obviously was afraid of the repercussions of releasing the tapes. And now, the Patriots bemoan and deny like a crummy politician after a scandal. Their legacy is tainted by their inappropriate actions, and the league validated that they cheated. I don’t care how hard the payers worked, it doesn’t change the actions of the coaches and the benefits the players received in glory and cash for victories that were not fairly earned.

Cheating will not win titles alone. The Pats D did a great job. Of course Pats fans think it didn’t matter. Any fan would look the other way and deny it. Could they have won without cheating…we will never know. Are fans jealous? damn right, we wish our teams cheated too.

Honestly how old are most of you posters? Really taping from an unapproved field position is the same as what? answer that ? and if you come back with something as profound as”the rules are the rules” well then chuckles you need to start watching badmiton because you know shyyt about football, and BTW I AM a Steeler fan.

Mangini might feel regretfull, but I’m glad he turned in the cheaters, and so are whole lot of other people. Same with the Saints. The dirty scheming and coverups that both coaching staffs and players egaged in, in both cases, after the NFL said, “hey, we’ll look the other way this time, but STOP”, continued on. That takes extremely low moral fabric – it’s dishonest, for one thing, and knowingly involving others in your cheating ways, also requires a lack of character.

So, to the fans of both of the only two teams that have been caught, fined and punished for cheating, it may not be right, since it wasn’t the fans who engaged in the depraved behavior, but the fans suffer the most, and that’s just the way it is wherever the subject is discussed. All you can hope for is for more “members” to be added to the club as the years go by.

1. The Patriots had informed the NFL that Mangini was taping in Foxboro the season before.

2. This occurred after the NFL sent out the memo on taping.

3. The NFL said that the Jets had permission (huh? permission to do something illegal? permission to cheat? what?) though the Patriots said no one gave them permission, and the NFL couldn’t produce a name. Goodell and Ray Anderson (former Jets employees) sure had a laugh over that one.

4. Why would I blame Mangini when the Patriots did the exact same thing to Mangini? The lesson the Patriots thought they had learned was that the league memo was not to be taken seriously.

Now, here are some common misconceptions about Spygate:

1. The Patriots taped the Rams SB practice. That was shown to be a lie by a disgruntled employee, and even if it weren’t, the Rams are on record as saying they only walked through red zone plays during that practice. The only 2 times the Rams made it to the red zone during the SB they scored TDs, so whatever the Patriots learned by taping (refuted of course) didn’t work.

2. The videotapes helped the Patriots’ defense. People actually still think this. The taping was of defensive signals, not offensive signals.

3. Taping helped them win all three Super Bowls. Taping could have helped them win the first one since they actually played the Rams that year and had tape on them. But the other Super Bowls were won without tape. In fact, the last time the Patriots played the Panthers, for instance, was three years prior when George Seifert was still the coach. The Patriots had no tape on the Panthers.

3A. OK, the Patriots might have had tape on the Panthers if someone sent them the coaches’ tape of prior games, in which you can see the signals on the sidelines. You can steal signals that way. But it’s just a PITA because you have to then sync them up with the time of the play. This is why it’s better to tape signals by devoting a camera to it, so that the signals relate to the play and the time in the game.

4. It’s illegal to videotape signals. NO, it’s not. You can videotape them as long as you’re in an enclosure of at least 2 walls. The Patriots were taping them at field level. BFD.

Bogus arguments:

1. The Patriots offense was only successful during those years because of taping. Anyone see the stats against the Rams? They were not pretty. if anything, the Patriots offense has been stellar since Spygate, it’s a record-breaking offense now. Before, it was mediocre.

2. Patriots can win a Super Bowl without tape. They already have. They couldn’t possibly have illegal tape on the Panthers, for instance.

Sorry Mangini, but tainted they are!! Its easy to be Tom Terrific when you know the defensive signals and an audible accordingly. The Pats cheated. Now lets here the whine and cheese party from pats fans.

Mangini originally did it just to needle Belichick and the Patriots, he didn’t think it would become the crap storm it was today (nor did he realize what halfwits most NFL fans are).

So the Patriots going 16-0, 14-2, 13-3, and going to two Super Bowls helps your argument that they can’t win without cheating? How do they even get there without those magic signals?

Are you saying they only cheated in SB’s? In that case, explain the Carolina SB. You know, the one where the Patriots had played the Panthers for the first time under a new coach (which means new playcalls). The last time the Pats/Panthers met was in 2001 when the Panthers were 1-15.

Unless you think John Fox runs the exact same plays and uses the exact same signals that George Seifert used (wouldn’t surprise me with the posters on PFT), spygate had no impact on SB39.

And remember, you can’t have it both ways. Either spygate only helped them in SB’s, or it helped them in every game along the way. Either way, they’ve proven that they can win without it.

They didn’t win the last two SB’s because of an amazing catch and a drop. They may not have won the Carolina SB had the kicker not booted it out of bounds. They would have lost the Rams SB had the defensive player stripped Brady on the first play of the final drive (watch how close his hand got to the ball).

These are the little plays that determined the SB’s, not filming a coach jumping up and down on the sidelines.

MAYBE THE ONLY GUY OUT HERE WITH A CLUE.

The rest of you, jet [ dumb] raven [ bitter] eagle [ sicko’s] etc fans..have no idea what went on, and how minimal it was.

Perhaps Shula should be removed from HOF because of his ‘circumventing’ communication system for years, or Noll for allowing the Steeler locker room to become a waste dump for steroids, dianabol @ it’s best, every player in doses that’d shame Barry Bonds, 75 mg/day…sickening doses. Or Denver & SF for cap injustices, …all unfair advantages. Or the jets & steelers for doing same, as Cowher admitted.

Harbaugh is going to be the next Mangini,,,another coach that becomes one of Belichicks bitches.

So, after reading many of the responses here I realize I live in a country full of lots of cheats and liars. Their thinking is that if you can get away with it, DO IT!

Mangini did the right thing. The tattler in Bountygate did the right thing.

Foolish head coaches will attempt to blackball these people but ultimately, they will fail. Honesty and integrity is remembered and revered to a few still running things in the NFL.
Say whatever about Goodell but if he doesn’t put the criminals in check, a nice politician will.
Yes, I said criminals. The behavior exhibited by these cheaters is also criminal on several statutory levels.
This ain’t war, coaches. It’s a game. Oh, that’s right. It’s about money…

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There is no statute that applies to the taping of coded signals in a sport. NFL signals are out in the open for all to see.

NFL rules don’t even prohibit the taping of signals but only prohibit taping from locations accessible to coaches or staff during that game. Get your facts straight. You’re just spewing nonsense here.

Both things can be equally true: the Patriots have great players and outstanding coaches AND taping the opponents signals gave them an unfair advantage in the games in which that happened. Even if they did not gain much of an advantage by breaking the rules, don’t expect football fans outside of new England to have great respect for the organization. We are saving that for teams that play clean start to finish.

I am originally from CT and now live in Georgia and its well known that I am a Patriots fan and no one even mentions Spygate or tainted trophies. So who ever says everyone outside of New England thinks they are cheaters is not true. I will wear my Boston sports gear and have never had anything mentioned about Spygate.

danallen2 says:
May 1, 2012 7:59 PM
…Also proves people don’t actually know the basic facts of Spygate.
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That about sums it all up. There’s no requirement to look up any facts before posting a comment.

Man, as a Patriots fan it sure makes me feel GREAT that we have crushed so many hopes and dreams of football fans across the country over the last decade that any mention of this ESPN fueled story illicits such ferocious hate and whining. It’s been 5 years and the Patriots have already gone to TWO more Super Bowls…if we could get Bruschi, Harrison, McGinest, Vrabel, Law, and Seymour back maybe Eli wouldn’t have gone 80 yards on is twice…keep hating haters…we’ll just keep going to Super Bowls and competing for championships with a completely rebuilt roster from the one we had when we made you so butthurt over this topic.

Amazing how the Patriots fans are saying he’s a “tattle-tale” “Whistleblower”, etc etc – So it is safe to assume then that if it had been the Jets doing that to you or the Colts, that is would be all good with you? Gmafb

Cheating on any level is deplorable & should NOT be acceptable to a so called “Professional” team…that is unless cheating is now the professional

Wait. Teams don’t want to hire Mangini because they can’t trust him? Well, if they’re not cheating, why the distrust? There have to be at least two dozen teams in need of a DC. If they are clean, why not? See how none of this adds up? You can’t have it both ways.

“If you’re not cheating, you’re not trying!” 5 Super Bowls in the BB/TB era. Dammit those boys are trying!!!! Anyone who thinks their team isn’t bending or breaking a rule or two to get a competitive edge is living in a fantasy world. It’s all about the money people and the NFL is awash in it.

I don’t think people are hating. I think the truth is the Patriots CHEATED and last time I checked cheating is cheating. They used that film to have an advantage over their opponents.
It must be nice to know what play is being called, what the audible is, and what play they will run by looking at the formation. Pats fans are the only ones that say people are haters because their team got caught. TAINTED!!!!! I hope you don’t teach your kids to cheat. I can just imagine how you would react if the opposite your child was cheating. CHEATING IS CHEATING nothing else.

Anyone who seriously thinks that a technicality of film production via “improper filming location” – equates to Superbowl victories obviously isn’t a FOOTBALL FAN. If you believe this rhetoric, you’re just another one way homer for you’re looser organization…. keep moving.

Jealous much chumps? make another excuse why you lost to the pats.. 2001, 2011 or anywhere in between… you hope were not on you’re schedule. suck it loosers

Look at all the Patriot-hater hypocrites coming out of the woodwork. Here you have the guy who STARTED this whole thing, saying he regrets it completely, that he never would have thought it would turn out this way.

I’ll just save this link and keep it with the video of Cowher saying it was no big deal, and that everyone did it, as well.

Winners (just like the Cowboys, Niners, Raiders, and Steelers before them) are always hated. So keep on hating and the Pats will keep on winning.

Ok I give up haters. I’ll embrace it…we’re “CHEATERS”….wahhhhh….well, I don’t care how we do it, we’ll just continue crushing your hopes of seeing your team successful by any means necessary! With exception of the Giants who i will admit have bragging rights for life, all other teams can just sit back and cry while we go 13-3 or 12-4 again next year and prevent your team from making you smile at the end of the year! I love that role…all of your tears taste like cupcakes to me…keep ’em coming!

FeedtheOldtotheYoung says:
May 1, 2012 5:07 PM
I wish someone who was actively in the NFL (coach, GM, owner) had the balls to say, “Hey, they cheated, plain and simple, their titles are tainted, end of story.”
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In this media driven world we live in, the truth is that if anyone “in the know” really felt that way, they would DEFINITELY say it, and get paid to do so (good ratings!) Maybe the fact the no one, not a coach in the league, has done so, and the FACT that the Pats have the best record in the league both before and after “TapedFromTheWrongPlaceGATE” ought to tell YOU something, chump.

This was absolutely brilliant…i’m reposting it in the hopes the clueless will read it and more importantly, comprehend it.
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danallen2 says: May 1, 2012 7:52 PM

As a Patriots fan, I don’t blame Mangini because…

1. The Patriots had informed the NFL that Mangini was taping in Foxboro the season before.

2. This occurred after the NFL sent out the memo on taping.

3. The NFL said that the Jets had permission (huh? permission to do something illegal? permission to cheat? what?) though the Patriots said no one gave them permission, and the NFL couldn’t produce a name. Goodell and Ray Anderson (former Jets employees) sure had a laugh over that one.

4. Why would I blame Mangini when the Patriots did the exact same thing to Mangini? The lesson the Patriots thought they had learned was that the league memo was not to be taken seriously.

Now, here are some common misconceptions about Spygate:

1. The Patriots taped the Rams SB practice. That was shown to be a lie by a disgruntled employee, and even if it weren’t, the Rams are on record as saying they only walked through red zone plays during that practice. The only 2 times the Rams made it to the red zone during the SB they scored TDs, so whatever the Patriots learned by taping (refuted of course) didn’t work.

2. The videotapes helped the Patriots’ defense. People actually still think this. The taping was of defensive signals, not offensive signals.

3. Taping helped them win all three Super Bowls. Taping could have helped them win the first one since they actually played the Rams that year and had tape on them. But the other Super Bowls were won without tape. In fact, the last time the Patriots played the Panthers, for instance, was three years prior when George Seifert was still the coach. The Patriots had no tape on the Panthers.

3A. OK, the Patriots might have had tape on the Panthers if someone sent them the coaches’ tape of prior games, in which you can see the signals on the sidelines. You can steal signals that way. But it’s just a PITA because you have to then sync them up with the time of the play. This is why it’s better to tape signals by devoting a camera to it, so that the signals relate to the play and the time in the game.

4. It’s illegal to videotape signals. NO, it’s not. You can videotape them as long as you’re in an enclosure of at least 2 walls. The Patriots were taping them at field level. BFD.

Bogus arguments:

1. The Patriots offense was only successful during those years because of taping. Anyone see the stats against the Rams? They were not pretty. if anything, the Patriots offense has been stellar since Spygate, it’s a record-breaking offense now. Before, it was mediocre.

2. Patriots can win a Super Bowl without tape. They already have. They couldn’t possibly have illegal tape on the Panthers, for instance.

now my take:
I think Mangini does regret it…for the reasons he talked about, but also because he’ll likely never get another job in the NFL. Too bad really…he’s a decent coach who had a lot of coaching ahead of him.

Couple of points I want to make here regarding taping:

1) IT’S NOT ILLEGAL, therefore, not cheating. Did I blow your mind yet? Still with me?

2)Read #1.

The part they got smacked down with was spot on and the Pats, namely BB, had it coming. They had sent memos to all teams saying…”You can’t tape signals from down on the field, you have to be in approved/authorized areas”. BB all but ignored it for whatever reason. He’s a smug b&stard sometimes and he loves to flip off the league any chance he gets.

This one bit him in the rear end, which is too bad for everyone else around him and the team. It effected all the players who were there grinding each and every day in practice, the unheralded players who got less credit than they would normally get on any other team, the coaches who put in crazy hours, etc.

But until the Pats close the deal on another championship, the argument against them…however ignorant they may be, are valid.

Some NFL exec and coaches knew something fishy was going on with the Patriots including the 01 Rams when one of there guys thought they seen someone recording the practices. Another game was when the Jaguars had a had time communicating in there press box. Obvious Roger Goodell didn’t want the public to know something he destroyed the tapes before anyone had a chance to see them. I think the government should’ve gotten involved to summoned him to show those tapes because all my years of being in football and playing I just couldn’t get my hands on that. Why in the hell is he the commissioner I have no clue.

Seriously, do the crime do the time. You play in the grey areas and get caught its the risk you take. Pats are cheats, lost draft pick and fine says it all quite clearly and it is in the books forever. Tainted bowls. And I am sure if your owner was not so high profile and viewed so favourably by the commish you would be looking down the barrel of something harsher than the saints are getting now. I love the Giants for laying those fools out twice on the big stage.

Unbelievable!
1) Since Spygate the Patriots haven’t won a significant game where they were not clearly more talented, and lost a SuperBowl when they were more talented, 18-0 more talented.

2) Someone (Mangenius) felt like there must be SOME advantages because you didn’t want them doing it to your team because you wanted to win.

3) Every team works hard, and while it is unfortunate that Tedy has to answer questions, if they had never cheated a SuperBowl I don’t think Tedy or Rodney have TV jobs because no one would know or care about them.

4) Tainted…are you kidding me…Tainted to say the least.

5) The NFL did a great job of sweeping this under rug, but Spygate has/had (since destroyed) more tangible evidence than the “Black Sox”.

6) USC got stripped of a championship because of payments to Reggie Bush’s family so does that mean that Clay Matthews, etc… didn’t work hard? Their championship was “tainted” and even the clusterf**k that is the NCAA knew that cheating means consequences. And taking draft picks away from a team that had stockpiled (smartly) them doesn’t correct the wrong.

Everytime this topic comes up it just burns me, and I don’t/didn’t have a horse in this race. I just can’t believe that people with straight faces rationalize what is sooooo clearly cheating, and that victories achieved through this are “tainted”.

tritz32 says:
May 1, 2012 4:54 PM
“And it doesn’t tarnish what we achieved there. It doesn’t tarnish what they achieved after the fact. I think when you look at the history of success that they had after that incident, it’s pretty obvious that it didn’t play any type of significant role in the victories we had or the success that we had.”

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History of success? You mean the 0 Super Bowl wins since this all came out?!?
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I think he meant getting to(and coming within inches of winning both)two super bowls, an undefeated regular season, and being near the top of the standings every year. Winning a Super Bowl takes tons of skill, coaching, AND luck. This argument is so played and was never accurate to begin with. I swear man, people are so stupid.

Penalty Affects Draft Choices
As part of the settlement, the 49ers agreed to pay $300,000 and surrender two draft choices — their fifth pick in the 2001 draft and third selection in 2002.

In addition, the 49ers agreed to recognize a commitment of $483,000 that the club’s prior ownership and management made to Jones.

ALL of their SB’s are now tainted, period.
If they did once, a logical person can only conclude that they’ve been doing it all along. That’s the logic propagated here by the PFT Hater Club

Dallas Cowboys? Dynasty?
Jimmy Johnson interview quote:
Q: How about the spying thing Jimmy. You’re a coach does that bother you what Belichick did?

JJ: Oh please. I’ve said it on our show. Eighteen years ago a scout for the Chiefs told me what they did, and he said what you need to do is just take your camera and you go and zoom in on the signal caller and that way you can sync it up. The problem is that if they’re not on the press box side you can’t do it from the press box; you have to do it from the sideline. This was 18 years ago.

Q: You think the NFL came down too hard on them?

JJ: No, no, I said it on the show. He was wrong for doing it for the simple reason that the league knew this was going on not just in New England but around the league. And the league sent out the memorandum to all of the teams saying you cannot do this. And so that’s when Bill Belichick was wrong. After he got the memorandum saying don’t do it anymore, he did it.

Q: Did you ever steal signals?

JJ: Oh in a heartbeat, yeah. Yes I did.

Q: Via video, Jimmy? Or no?

JJ: Oh yeah, I did it with video and so did a lot of other teams in the league. Just to make sure that you could study it and take your time, because you’re going to play the other team the second time around. But a lot of coaches did it, this was commonplace.

What more needs to be Said? Dallas Cowboys? Cheaters forever.

Denver Broncos? 2 Time- SB champs? Salary CP CHEATERS

By Mark Kiszla
Denver Post Staff Columnist
The diamonds in their Super Bowl rings still shine. But the NFL championships won by the Broncos have been tarnished.
After a 20-month investigation, the league ruled Thursday that Denver circumvented salary-cap rules from 1996-98, a crucial period in franchise history when the Broncos won back-to-back world titles and earned taxpayer approval for a new $400 million stadium.
The punishment for the Broncos was a fine of nearly $1 million and forfeiture of a third-round draft choice.
The shame of getting caught should be far greater.

Denver Broncos: CHEATERS forever, period.

Pittsburgh Steelers: Dynasty? Steroid infused team throughout the 70’s.
But Bradshaw then brought up late Steve Courson, his former teammate in those years.
Courson certainly used anabolic steroids, describing to Sports Illustrated in 1985 a complex regimen of Anadrol-50, Dianabol, Winstrol and Deca Durobilin.
Steve Courson recounted his story in ‘False Glory’ where he documented a real psychological (or physical) dependence on the juice. Serious stuff as the number of Steelers coming to an early demise attests (although one cannot directly link the Steeler’s early death rate to anabolic steroid use alone).
Bradshaw survived. Perhaps the legend of the Steelers won’t survive quite as untarnished as we once thought.
1970’s Steelers SB WINS ALL TAINTED.

There you have it, PFT Hater Club, THEY ALL “CHEAT”
Pick on NE all you want- all anyone has to do is a little research and you’ll find your own houses are not clean either.

If your taping someone else’s practice, you’re cheating. If you know the other team’s hand signals because you taped it, you’re cheating. If you were able to use that information in any regular or post season game to gain an advantage you cheated. All wins during that era are tainted.

Is there any dumber comment since 0 SBs since spygate? they’ve only had an undefeated regular season and two SB losses by less than a touchdown since then. You can’t be serious. Fans are so ridiculous and uninformed. Do you all really think that the league would send out LEAGUE-WIDE NOTICE

No, no, I said it on the show. He was wrong for doing it for the simple reason that the league knew this was going on not just in New England but around the league. And the league sent out the memorandum to all of the teams saying you cannot do this. And so that’s when Bill Belichick was wrong. After he got the memorandum saying don’t do it any more, he did it. – Jimmy Johnson on this overrated controversy

I’d agree that jealousy is an ugly emotion, which would explain the overall ugliness of New England sports fans, given that the New York Yankees have practically owned their Boston Red Sox for the vast majority of the last century, spawning several generations of bitter New Englanders. The resulting whining now that the shoe is on the other foot only shows that New Englanders have never had any problems dishing out the criticism but can’t take it in return. If you crybabies can’t take the heat, then get out of the kitchen.

One day on somebody’s dying bed, they will reveal what was so bad on the tape that it had to be destroyed. Why would the tape have to be destroyed if it was only a minor “i told you not to do that” violation. Billy’s kids need to accept it and move on in hopes of a legit title.

The question is, why do u believe any of us care?
Painting with a broad brush -in your case the broadest of all- doesn’t make your warped, highly biased opinions accurate.

Steinbrenner bought more championships than anyone else. Congrats George. You are the greatest.
You’ve left complete Nutcases like Bozo-the 4th grader in your wake, who has nothing better to do than tout your accomplishments from behind a keyboard as though you discovered a cure for cancer.

From Babe Ruth to Reggie Jackson, Mike Mussina to Roger Clemens and ARod –> Sabbathia –> Texieira, and all the Mercenaries in between…

They were all sold to the Highest bidder:
The ORIGINAL MERCENARY TEAM:
The New York Yankees

And, @Bozo: Biggest choke in the history of North American sports = Yankees only team ever to give up a 3-0 lead, in the ALCS, to the Red Sox, on their home turf. Grand slam!

Also… the biggest beat-down ever to clinch an NBA championship happened when the Celtics beat the Lakers by almost 40 pts in 2008. No one’s teams put their tail between the legs like Bozo’s teams!! Waaaaaaahhhhh Bozo, waaaaaaaaaa!!

I still remember when Jimmy Johnson said his teams did it on the Fox pregame show. I will never forget Bradshaw’s pious attitude as well. He who admitted ‘trying’ steroids and he was protected by Mike Webster, John Kolb and a TE named Larry Brown who morphed into a huge left tackle in one season. The reason why QB’s and a LB where the head set is because everyone was trying to steal signals. In what sport would you not? Baseball players and teams are celebrated for being great sign stealers. Al Davis loved the fact he was accused of spying or wire tapping locker rooms. Stealing signals still is not against the rules. Having cameras in unauthorized places is against the rules. That was spygate – not getting the other teams signals it was the placement of the camera.

@dynaco
This tape-destroying story is ridiculously overhyped. The tape taken from the Patriots during the Jets game was shown on Fox already. The Patriots were filming coaching signals. The other tapes that were destroyed were given to Gooddell by Belichick.

So, what you’re saying is that Belichick gave Goodell some tapes that showed him doing something so unbelievably bad that Goodell destroyed the tapes?

You haters are funny. No matter how many coaches come out and say there was no advantage, you just don’t accept it, as if you’re not wrong. The Commissioner said there was no competitive advantage either.

I called this when it happened (about Mangini being blackballed which I think he is). I guarantee you when Goodell writes his memoirs, he’ll regret his actions regarding this too. This is not to say that the Pats shouldn’t have been punished. They did wrong by having a camera on the sidelines–and ONLY by having a camera on the sidelines. I just think it got overblown not only because of the media and the fans but because Goodell handled the situation incorrectly.

I also love how you haters point out that the Pats are 0-2 in Super Bowls since Spygate. Are you forgetting that they MADE IT to the Super Bowl? They’ve also been to the playoffs 4 out of 5 years since (including 2007). The one year they missed, they went 11-5. C’mon now. You better have something better than that!

I’m a Patriots fan who admits that sign stealing may have helped them against the Rams (but not the Panthers, for instance), but I say, so what? Sign stealing is not illegal. In fact, I linked above to an article about the Phins stealing signs from the Patriots and using them in a victory. The NFL said that this isn’t against the rules at all. In fact, stealing signals off a tape and using them as the Phins did is normal. “That’s football.”

Simply put, I can’t understand Goodell’s logic because he has no logic. The guy is a public relations prisoner, just like many people in our country that lack substance and only care about perception.

I like Southern Cal and New England. Those who hate just for hates sake are the biggest LOSERS in the world. “Ain’t no time to hate, barely time to wait”. I’m no Patriots fan but winning the AFC championship and getting to the Super Bowl are great accomplishments. You have to overcome hate to understand that.

Since they weren’t cheating prior to their 5th Lombardi, we’ll knock off 4 Titles from that Count.

Also, to borrow from a widely held belief from many in the Patriot Hater Nation, SF just got LUCKY as all GET-OUT in drafting Montana 82 overall at the END of the 3rd round and therefore don’t deserve any credit for winning those titles, anyway.
The popular refrain from your ilk when evaluating Belichick…

Plus, the spirit of my comment is that if you’re caught cheating once, then the ASSUMPTION is that you’ve been doing it all along- the method doesn’t matter.
Take the NY Giants for instance? You a Giants Fan, Bob?
Your team CHEATS too! GIANTS recent SUPERBOWLS=TAINTED; all asterisked UP!

any so called football fan that thinks the patriots 3 SB are not legit can go pound sand. As for me I enjoy seeing those banners in the stadium as long as I live. All you haters would take bb and Brady in a heart beat and you wish you had them and you all know it. And, it is because your team is a sorry ass excuse for a football team with idiot owners that your team will suck for ever. As for all the great fans in patriot nation ,lets go to superbowl #8 this year under the great ownership of robert kraft .maybe we win ? maybe we wont but boy this is a great ride isnt it?.To all you haters waaaaaaaaaaaaaa! enjoy wachin pats in sb this year BAHAAHAAHAAHAA

niquebchillin says:
May 1, 2012 4:57 PM
Why do ppl act like the Pats didnt break a rule … Now that the defense don’t know what plays are coming they suck .

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Response: A lot of misconceptions about this story that have made it a bigger deal then it truly is. Most fans believe the offense was “stealing signals.” Pats were punished for videotaping defensive signals. If it was an advantage most teams had it since “stealing” signals is legal as per Roger Goodell from 2007 said “The issue is not stealing signals, that is allowed and it is done quite widely.”

To me this story is nonsense fodder, if people were truly concerned about “cheating” it would be one thing but it’s about siding w/your team. So Pats fans like myself, defend BB & Pats while Steelers fans for ex write about “cheating.”

Acquiring signals is ok, the method from where on the field it was done was not. The media has played a large part of this story becoming bigger then it truly is, it all started when the Jets beatwriter who writes for their paper dubbed it Spygate…it sounds sinister, evil & dirty so the general public feels as though something evil happened. It should be referred to as “videogate” if anything, that is a stretch as well since the rule book allows for “permissible observation” as well. In reality this is a story about technology combined with league’s past winking culture toward espionage colliding when Roger Goodell decided to put his foot down. Plain and simple, that is all it is. The league has a lot of bigger issues to deal with right now, like the concussion issue and how to make the game safer, this is a minor side story that gets a lot of hits because for some reason the media doesn’t like Belichick and how he makes their jobs tough.